Mayors' bid to vet directors rejected

The first batch of directors to run most of the Super City services should be vetted by Auckland's mayors, says Manukau Mayor Len Brown.

"If the Government insists on setting up council-controlled organisations, it should at least allow Auckland to have a say on the appointment of the first directors," says the contender to be the first mayor of the Super City.

The final piece of Super City legislation excludes Aucklanders from having a say in the appointment of unelected directors to run more than 75 per cent of council services at arm's length from democratic control.

The job of appointing the initial directors of the giant transport CCO rests largely with Local Government Minister Rodney Hide, with help from Transport Minister Steven Joyce.

It will be responsible for spending $650 million of ratepayers' money on everything from major roads to fixing potholes.

The Government has decided to establish seven CCOs for the Super City and is legislating for three of these - water, waterfront development and transport.

Mr Brown said he was not opposed to CCOs - "in Manukau we have a number of successful ones" - but Auckland was the only council in New Zealand to have CCOs established for it. The norm is for councils to set up CCOs after public consultation.

He said an electoral college with one member from each of Auckland's councils should be set up to vet the candidates to give Aucklanders confidence in the initial directors.

Thereafter, the directors will be appointed by the Auckland Council.

"Mayors could put aside a day to meet, go through the candidates and agree on a preferred list," Mr Brown said.

Auckland City Mayor John Banks, the other main contender for the Super City mayoralty, also believed Aucklanders should have a say in the appointment of the initial directors.

"If Wellington wants to take Auckland with it in this change, Auckland needs to be substantially in charge of its own destiny," he said.

Mr Hide said he did not agree with Mr Brown's suggestion, but planned to discuss the appointments with a range of people in Auckland before making recommendations to the Cabinet.

Mr Joyce reiterated his intention as Transport Minister to hold informal talks with mayors about the board appointments to Auckland Transport. He did not support the level of formality suggested by Mayor Brown.

Meanwhile, an academic has questioned whether the model for the Auckland Council to monitor the CCOs is sufficient to keep tabs on the large and complex organisations that he says are in danger of working as "silos" instead of in an integrated way.

David Wilson, director of the Institute of Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology, said the council committee overseeing CCOs would take its advice from a governance and monitoring unit based in the finance division.

"What that indicates to me is the 1980s contracting-out model where we have a performance agreement around financial outputs, whereas what we are trying to achieve is better outcomes in the long-run for Aucklanders."

Mr Wilson said the monitoring unit needed beefing up with specialist advice. The Auckland Council and CCOs also needed both parties to design detailed contracts that worked in the public interest.